Ukraine authorities have approved a giant steel cover for the Chernobyl nuclear site, which is still radioactive more than 20 years since the disaster and the atrocities it spawned.

The 1.4 billion dollar construction, which will take 5 years to complete, has been outsourced to a French firm.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said:

"Today is probably the first time that we can openly look into the eyes of the national and international community and say that a solution to the problem that has long been called the Chernobyl problem was formally found,"

If you want to refresh you memory on the Chernobyl incident, this excellent Australian 60 minutes report, presented by the recently deceased Richard Carlton, is worth watching.